The Europeian Standard, An Interview with Griffin

[Guy]

Northern Chtitowa, you are quite right that a more restrictive definition would record the number of participants in the FRA's central institutions, without affiliation to TRR and Lazarus, as 0 instead of 1 - revealing the true extent of its total dependence on those regions. The fact remains that you are the most active FRA member with no affiliation in Lazarus or TRR in modern times. If we put your false modesty to one side, it will be recognised that a person's importance within the FRA establishment is not related to how often they log on. The article was not suggesting that you were involved in the contemporary FRA's day-to-day decisions. You were the key figure in setting the early FRA's goals and the influence of your vision on its strategic direction continues.

I'm not sure that I've ever spoken to NC in my life. It's true that I have a tonne of respect for the work that he did, but with the greatest respect, as he'd tell you himself, it's a past-tense there.

[Onderkelkia]

Northern Chtitowa, you are quite right that a more restrictive definition would record the number of participants in the FRA's central institutions, without affiliation to TRR and Lazarus, as 0 instead of 1 - revealing the true extent of its total dependence on those regions. The fact remains that you are the most active FRA member with no affiliation in Lazarus or TRR in modern times. If we put your false modesty to one side, it will be recognised that a person's importance within the FRA establishment is not related to how often they log on. The article was not suggesting that you were involved in the contemporary FRA's day-to-day decisions. You were the key figure in setting the early FRA's goals and the influence of your vision on its strategic direction continues.

I'm not sure that I've ever spoken to NC in my life. It's true that I have a tonne of respect for the work that he did, but with the greatest respect, as he'd tell you himself, it's a past-tense there.

In fact, you have participated in multiple discussions with him, including on occasions where he has specifically intervened to promote a political agenda hostile to the Imperialist sphere. For example, following the formation of the Osiris Fraternal Order, in December 2013, you opined that the FRA should stay out of the affair. In the very next post, Northern Chittowa stepped in to recommend that the FRA should ignore Osiris "only up to the point of being aware that they may side with TNI et al in Lazarus. If they do then there could be a few issues. They have already stated that they don't want defenders in the region (in your general propaganda way) so I wouldn't be surprised." With an eye on the wider gameplay landscape, Northern Chittowa has been among the most important voices in the history of the FRA in favour of focusing on the politics of game-created regions and advocating hostilities with Imperialists.

Although Northern Chittowa has been much less active in the last several years than he was at the time of the FRA's founding, his influence has continued to be felt at pivotal moments. Significantly, he led the FRA establishment's criticism of Falconias for attempting negotiations with the UIAF regional governments, having previously influenced the FRA's response to the TNI-LKE peace offer at the September 2011 Europeia summit. He also extended an olive branch to Unibot in an effort to patch up FRA-UDL relations in May 2012 (endeavouring to mitigate the risks of FRA-UDL tensions for the Defender sphere's interests). These are contributions which have shaped the long-term course of the FRA's policies towards other actors. In doing all this, Northern Chittowa's opposition to the Imperialist sphere has been marked. Commenting on a report about intelligence activities against The New Inquisition, Northern Chittowa once noted that "Nothing would bring me greater pleasure than to see TNI fall flat on their arse". Above, Northern Chittowa argued that my article revealed "an unhealthy fascination towards" the FRA. I would suggest that it his own profound antipathy towards TNI and the LKE which is the real story here.

Ultimately, Northern Chittowa has not needed to keep his hand on the tiller, because the essentials of his approach are so deeply ingrained within the organisation he created. In December 2006, following the failed TNI attempt to counter-invade Valhalla after it had been seized by the FRA, Northern Chittowa rushed to the forums of Great Britain and Ireland to launch a wholesale attack on the Imperialism of the GB&I, TNI and LKE governments, and to warn the population of GB&I against returning to the "Imperialism of old". The desire to stamp out Imperialism in any form, coupled with political interventions against perceived weak links in Independent regions, to advance the Defender cause, perfectly reflects the FRA's approach throughout its subsequent history. Whether they are conscious of the fact or not, members of the FRA today are following the same strategic vision as they were in 2006.

[The Europeian Standard]

RaiderCon, RaiderVision, and Other Things 'Raider': A Sit-Down with Ever-Wandering Souls

Interview | Writinglegend, Staff Writer
Interview | Kraketopia, Interviewer

The Europeian Standard recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the Field Marshal of The Black Hawks, Ever-Wandering Souls (Souls). Souls has been at the forefront of Gameplay politics for the better part of a year now, and has been an advocate for cleaning up the raiding sphere. This has led to The Black Hawks disconnecting themselves completely from organizations such as The Invaders, who consistently harbor individuals infamous for their corrosive behavior. This work to reposition themselves has pushed The Black Hawks to the forefront of the raiding world, where their continual propagation of a modernized raiding sphere based on competition and fair play has allowed them to lead organizations to the future of R/D.

RaiderCon, an annual event held in July that celebrates the past, present, and future of raiding in NationStates, is swiftly approaching its scheduled date in the first week of July. This convention first took place in 2015 to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of The Black Hawks. Players across NationStates come together to engage in discussions, games, and more. RaiderCon has daily programs that examine raiding from various angles. The current program for RaiderCon 2017 contains a spotlight on female raiding Gameplayers, post-Predator discussions, and coups of Game-Created Regions, among others. With such an extravagant event on the way, people may forget that RaiderVision is on the horizon.

“Albion won our crammed-in RaiderVision 2016,” Souls told the Standard when asked about the upcoming singing event. “So they will be the main face of things this year.”

Field Marshal Souls also notes that there will be minimal changes from the 2016 event. “Regions and individuals will submit songs, and regions and submitters will vote on our frontrunners!” Luckily for everyone, our glorious ears will be able to hear an original submission from the Field Marshal himself. “I'm promising a submission of my own this year...it'll either be Billy Joel or a song from a Disney movie.” It is our prediction that RaiderVision will prosper this year, and fly in the sky like Peter Pan, but will never land due to its colossal success. It's cooperation across spectrums through events such as RaiderVision that makes NS a unique, lovable game.

The same cooperation taking the forefront in Gameplay-wide events such as RaiderVision is also present within the raiding community itself. "I'd say cooperation has been something of an extra strong theme recently." Touting the cooperation of groups such as TBG with KGB, Firehelm and Hydra, and ESPA and TWPAF closely cooperating, Souls appears confident in the future of the Raider sphere. Some predicted a decline in raiding after the scandals that hit the sphere a year ago. The response to those predictions is a simple quip from Souls, "What decline?"

Souls is a successful veteran player, and we couldn't let this opportunity slip by without asking for some advice on behalf of new players. "This is gonna sound cliche as [expletive], but honestly, just pick somewhere, and put elbow grease in." Work, of course, wasn't the only bit of advice. Being wary of "easy paths to the top" was another critical piece of information he gave our Paper. “It's always better to work your way up from the bottom and gain the full range of experience than to be just handed leadership.”

“Find some good friends, set goals, and hold each other to working towards them,” Souls told us with his final comments. “Success here is what you make of it.”

RaiderVision 2017 song submissions begin on June 16th and end on June 30th. RaiderCon 2017 begins shortly thereafter, starting on July 1st and ending on July 6th.

NOTE: The Europeian Standard does not reflect the policy or viewpoints of the Europeian goverment.

[Darcness]

Glad to see The Black Hawks doing so well after everything that's happened.

“It's always better to work your way up from the bottom and gain the full range of experience than to be just handed leadership.” Important words, and ones that everyone loves to forget.

[Jakker]

Great work by Kraken and Euro as always.

[The Europeian Standard]

13 Years of Coups: An Interview with Griffin
Written By | Darcness
Interview By | Calvin Coolidge

"If you want a lark, coup The North Pacific. If you want to play the waiting game, coup The East Pacific. If you want a challenge, you coup Osiris.  If you want to blow your [expletive] brains out, you go to The South Pacific."

There aren't many quotes that can so vividly illustrate Griffin, Pharoah Emeritus of Osiris.  Where some see an irreverent curr, self-styled as 'bloodthirsty', others see an intelligent tactician with piercing insight and years of experience to back it up.  The Europeian Standard got the opportunity to sit down with Griffin on the eve of his retirement, to pick the brain of this 13-year veteran, and the interview did not disappoint.

An inexplicable pardon by Tim is what brought Griffin back to Osiris, and eventually led to his delegacy.  With a focus on what was best for the region,  regardless of how unpopular it might be, Griffin led the region to renewed activity and effectiveness, always with an eye on results. "I don't know what diplomacy is. You either get something done or you don't."

Reflections on his most recent tenure as Delegate of Osiris couldn't exist without the most obvious: "I've exceeded everyone's expectations for the simple reason I didn't coup the [expletive]."  While keeping his gaze fixed on a single point, in this case, Osiris, Griffin sought to always have the region's best interest at heart.  Osiris' legislature has, as of this writing, voted in the affirmative to repeal the GCR Sovereignty Accord after Griffin called for the region's withdrawal.  Citing a lack of professionalism from figures such as Pergamon, Griffin believes that agreements between individual regions are the best choice.  “Forcing multiple regions to have identical agreements costs any individual region options in the realm of diplomacy, and in the end is just a bad idea.” It became plain to Griffin after one too many run-ins with Pergamon, and the decision was made to go their separate ways. Many regions try multilateral agreements, and most of them fail. In fact, they have all failed eventually, when viewed through the lens of a 13-year career in Nationstates.

Griffin goes on to give predictions regarding the current issues in Lazarus with some timelines on just how long the entire incident will take to resolve. None of this would be complete without a patented tongue-in-cheek claim to be the center of the entire conspiracy.

Griffin is looking forward to leaving Osiris in the hands of what he calls 'the next generation' of leaders.  As for staying busy in this next stage in his career,  a few ideas have been mulled over including a radio show and couping Europeia. "I've never couped a UCR before."

Want to hear more? Listen here for the full interview.

NOTE: The Europeian Standard does not reflect the policy or viewpoints of the Europeian goverment.

[The Sygian]

"If you want a lark, coup The North Pacific. If you want to play the waiting game, coup The East Pacific. If you want a challenge, you coup Osiris.  If you want to blow your [expletive] brains out, you go to The South Pacific."

Gotta love Papa Griff. I listened to the broadcast live, and this quote still has me laughing my ass off.

[Rad is Bad]

Great one!

[Glen-Rhodes]

How is couping Osiris, probably the most-couped GCR, a challenge?

[The North Polish Union]

How is couping Osiris, probably the most-couped GCR, a challenge?

The challenge is to hold it long enough that The Pacific has a coup before you had another one

[RiderSyl]

How is couping Osiris, probably the most-couped GCR, a challenge?

Frequency and difficulty have no correlation when it comes to trying to coup a Sinker.

The attrition involved in Sinker coups is ridiculous.